When does the creativity and imagination of childhood come to a halt?

Thursday

Dec 13, 2012 at 12:01 AM

As I've grown older, I've found that coming up with new ideas and concepts that no one else has thought of has become more challenging than ever. I sit at the piano, and the keys look foreign unless I have sheet music to guide me. Writing essays for college applications has been like pulling teeth as I try to stand out to potential colleges. Even thinking up topics for these articles has become increasingly difficult.

BY LOUISA GARNERTeen correspondent

As I've grown older, I've found that coming up with new ideas and concepts that no one else has thought of has become more challenging than ever. I sit at the piano, and the keys look foreign unless I have sheet music to guide me. Writing essays for college applications has been like pulling teeth as I try to stand out to potential colleges. Even thinking up topics for these articles has become increasingly difficult.This summer I had the opportunity to volunteer at summer theater camps run by Piedmont Players Theatre in Salisbury. The camps were for elementary-age students with an interest in learning more about theater. I was completely taken aback not only by the talent that the children possessed but the creativity and raw innocence that adults and even teen performers seem to lack.I really got to see their minds work when they played one game in particular. For this game, the children divided into groups. Each child in the group would pull a phrase out of a hat, and the group would perform a small scene using only the lines given. The catch is that to me none of the sentences fit together or made any sense. However, it didn't take long for the children to imagine a whole scene and perform it for the others. I was completely stunned and just so impressed with the charm of these children. It got me wondering where my childhood went and why I can't go back to those days all together. I would give anything in the world to go back to those days when I would play house with my sister and pretend with my friends. Those were the days when everything was simpler and nothing was impossible. Am I the only one who sees the loss of childhood innocence a tragedy? Over and over again children grow into adults without any second thought, leaving their childhood behind without a second glance back. That's the norm, and we're told to accept it and move on.But is there still hope for me and all the other teenagers? We're not quite adults, yet we're trying so hard to grow up and distance ourselves from the children we used to be. I think there's still a chance for us. In fact, I think there's still a chance for the adults. It's time to forget about our pride and ego. I know there is still a chance to turn back the time and revive that creativity and childlike wonder that we have forgotten after all these years.